Madelyn Victoria slates EP release party at Wink’s

Madelyn Victoria Vallejo, 21, performing simply as Madelyn Victoria, will celebrate a first in what’s sure to be a promising career in country music by holding an album release party for her first EP, a self-titled, five-track effort already sparking a buzz not only in her hometown of San Benito but all over the Valley.

The goal is to go beyond her current fan base and attract the attention of record labels, this in hopes of going mainstream.

First thing is first, though. Madelyn will be at Wink’s Saloon, 10700 FM 1421 in Brownsville, on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. to celebrate the release of her EP. Armed with door prizes and giveaways for those who attend, she’ll also be selling her album at Wink’s and, of course, performing her original songs, as featured on her CD, including a few covers.

“I actually received the EPs in hand last Thursday,” an elated Madelyn said Tuesday afternoon. “It was surreal. It was just excitement, and I was already thinking of the next step.”

But that’s been the theme of Madelyn’s short career. Set a short-term goal, achieve it and move on.

Take her EP, for instance.

“I started recording in January, and the final product was done in the beginning of August… a masterpiece takes time,” she laughed. “I don’t have a lot of patience, but this really taught me to be patient. Then I just moved on to printing (packaging) which took about two months, and I did all this without the support of a label.”

She’s being modest.

Madelyn actually scouted musicians for her album, recruited the help of a friend in recording, and she produced it all on her own. Yes, she had help from her family, specifically from her mom and dad, not to mention her brother Albert for helping with instrumentation and added production, but for the most part it was Madelyn’s show.

Not bad for an aspiring country starlet who’s barely old enough to drink.

Then, the girl with the red cowboy boots was also featured on K-TEX FM 100.3 Saturday night, a rarity for any Valley-native artist to garner such attention on the station. K-TEX even played cuts from her EP, including “Country-Fide” and “Man in a Cowboy Hat.”

“If people start requesting the songs, then I’ll get playing time,” Madelyn added.

For more information on the release party, call (956) 399-WINK or visit www.winkssaloon.com.